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Land Contestation at the Micro Scale: Struggles for Space in the African Marshes

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  • Ansoms, An
  • Wagemakers, Inge
  • Madison Walker, Michael
  • Murison, Jude

Abstract

Africa is increasingly confronted with the commercialization of its space. Whereas attention mainly goes to macro-scale land grabs, land contestation and grabbing at the micro scale are largely ignored. This paper analyses how local actors instrumentalize the renegotiation over African wetland rights to call into question the prevailing social order. We illustrate how deficiencies in formal instruments allow certain powerful actors to capture the momentum of an open moment. We plead in favor of a better understanding of political power struggles through which land rights are shaped; and point to the shortcomings of a technocratic approach to land governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Ansoms, An & Wagemakers, Inge & Madison Walker, Michael & Murison, Jude, 2014. "Land Contestation at the Micro Scale: Struggles for Space in the African Marshes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 243-252.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:54:y:2014:i:c:p:243-252
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.08.010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peters, Pauline E., 2009. "Challenges in Land Tenure and Land Reform in Africa: Anthropological Contributions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1317-1325, August.
    2. Jean‐Pierre Olivier de Sardan, 2011. "The Eight Modes of Local Governance in West Africa," IDS Bulletin, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(2), pages 22-31, March.
    3. Bastiaensen, Johan & Herdt, Tom De & D'Exelle, Ben, 2005. "Poverty reduction as a local institutional process," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 979-993, June.
    4. Saturnino M. Borras & David Fig & Sofía Monsalve Suárez, 2011. "The politics of agrofuels and mega-land and water deals: insights from the ProCana case, Mozambique," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(128), pages 215-234, June.
    5. Wendy Wolford & Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Ruth Hall & Ian Scoones & Ben White & Wendy Wolford & Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Ruth Hall & Ian Scoones & Ben White, 2013. "Governing Global Land Deals: The Role of the State in the Rush for Land," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 44(2), pages 189-210, March.
    6. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Pradhan, Rajendra, 2002. "Legal pluralism and dynamic property rights," CAPRi working papers 22, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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    Cited by:

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    3. De Boeck, Filip, 2020. "Urban expansion, the politics of land, and occupation as infrastructure in Kinshasa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
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    5. Sung Kyu Kim & Fiona Marshall & Neil M. Dawson, 2022. "Revisiting Rwanda’s agricultural intensification policy: benefits of embracing farmer heterogeneity and crop-livestock integration strategies," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(3), pages 637-656, June.

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